Best sites for global entrepreneurs

Use these sources to research the international marketplace.

By Alessandra Bianchi

FSB -- Taking a small business international requires plenty of preparation. These sites will help you evaluate new markets, find the right partners and more.

Alibaba.com. Backed by Fidelity, Goldman Sachs and Yahooo, among others, this business-to-business online marketplace for global trade matches millions of far-flung buyers and sellers.

Business for Diplomatic Action. The Resource section of this private-sector task force's website is filled with tools designed to educate Americans in how to conduct global business effectively. Download the free World Citizen's Guide, and the Foreign Media Relations Guide, or contact the organization for more information regarding customized global diplomacy courses.

CIA's World Fact Book. This useful site provides detailed demographic, economic, geographic, political and other frequently updated data on virtually every country in the world.

Economist Intelligence Unit. Get economic forecasts and other data on more than 200 countries and eight key industries.

The World Bank's Doing Business database. This site compares the regulatory environments of 175 economies.

U.S. Dept. of Commerce's International Trade Administration. You can find your local U.S. Export Assistance Center, which can help you with everything from finding overseas trade shows to finding pre-screen agents, partners and distributors. Top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.